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Chapter One
Ivy
Pushing my hair from my face, I straightened and let out a sigh. The floor was finally done, and my knees could quit screaming about the abuse of kneeling on flagstones. It had taken the whole morning to scrub the entire floor, but a spark of pride warmed my chest as I looked around the kitchen.
It was spotless.
And just in time, since I needed to prepare lunch.
Stacking the meat and cheese I’d readied that morning on a platter with fruit and bread, I lifted the tray just as my aunt rang the bell from the front room. Using my hip to bump open the door, I backed into the room with the full tray, careful not to tip it and spill everything on my clean floor.
“Finally! I’m famished.”
My cousin Margaret’s high-pitched complaint pierced my ears, followed by William’s bored objection.
“Not that it matters. It’s nothing but meat and cheese again. Can you not serve anything else?”
I was used to my cousin’s criticisms and barely noticed it anymore. Making contrite noises and repeating, “Sorry,” as I placed the food on the table, I kept my eyes cast downward so I wouldn’t roll them.
Aunt Mary refused to cook, so they were stuck with what I could manage, and since no one had bothered to teach me, it wasn’t much. No matter what I served, they griped, yet they always ate it, hardly leaving anything for me.
Stepping back and taking my place against the wall, I clasped my hands together with my head bowed and let my mind wander. This was the last break I was going to get before bed, and I couldn’t care less about the gossip my cousins were so fond of. It didn’t take much thought to keep their glasses full and to clear away dishes as they were emptied, so my mind was free to go over what I needed to do for the rest of the evening.
Aunt Mary had taken me in when I was six after my parents died of an illness that struck our village. She had married a trader and moved away long before, but someone got a message to her letting her know I was on my own, and it would have looked bad for her to leave me at the mercy of the village.
I think she still would have if she’d known I was an omega before she agreed. I was an oddity in a family of betas.
I’d been kept separate from my cousins, looked after by the staff, until I was old enough to be considered useful. My cousins were only a few summers older than me, and while they attended school as decreed by the governor, I was kept home, doing chores to earn my keep.
Their father died while on a trip to another town near the far coast two summers after I came to live with them. Losing a parent was a tragedy we shared, that could have brought us closer, but they acted as if they didn’t care, unless someone was there to see the act.
From the moment my aunt received word that her husband was dead, my chores had steadily increased. As the money dwindled away, more servants were dismissed, and I was made to take on more and more jobs that I had no idea how to perform.
Like preparing meals.
“Have you heard the talk about the governor? Rumor is, he was declared unfit to lead. Beqhner thinks he is going to take his father’s place since he’s being called to Perlynn.”
Margaret’s news caught my attention. Although I hadn’t left my aunt’s property more than a handful of times since she noticed alphas paying too much attention to me, even I had been aware of the governor’s decline. Being declared unfit was still a shock, and I wondered what that would mean for Barcole if Beqhner did take over.
Unlike the clans on the other side of the mountains, Barcole was not independent, and the governor answered to someone in another town. If they deemed Beqhner not a good fit, a stranger could be placed in control, and it would be anyone’s guess if that was better or not.
“That’s old news, Margaret. He’s already left and should be in Perlynn by now.”
I looked to Aunt Mary for confirmation of William’s statement, just as Margaret did. I was careful to hide my interest since they were apt to send me away if they thought I was listening, but if anyone was up to date, my aunt would be. I had no idea how she stayed abreast of all the news both in and outside Barcole, but she always seemed to know what was going on.
Taking another bite from her fork, Aunt Mary set it down as she chewed, lifting her napkin to her mouth to wipe as she made them wait. She wasn’t the chatterbox her children were, and when she spoke, she made sure she was the center of attention.
“Your brother is right, Margaret, and there are plans for a festival to celebrate once he returns. They say he’s going to be looking for a wife, and we’ve all received an invitation to attend dinner with him.”
Margaret had gone on about some scandal over Beqhner losing the omega he’d chosen to a monster from the mountains last fall, but no one had believed it was true. I remembered people in the village I came from talking about monsters as if they were real, but people on this side of the mountains seemed to think they were just a tale.
Margaret’s eyes widened, a smile pulling at her too-wide lips before her gaze slid to me.
“All?”
I dropped my head again, hands clasped in front of my apron. Margaret was just as merciless in reminding me of my place as Aunt Mary. While a trader was no more important than a simple farmer, they’d always acted as if there was something wrong with my parents and where we came from.
I doubted my name would have been on the invitation considering my aunt had hidden me away for so long, but I couldn’t stop the surge of hope that fluttered in my chest. It would have been nice to be remembered as a part of the family. Not to mention, an omega, which was surely what Beqhner would be looking for.
